Slumping Bears seek turnaround UMaine 0-4 in league

After defying expectations with a record start of 15-7 in Florida, the University of Maine softball team and its mostly freshmen infield started conference play with a pair of losses against Towson… and then kept losing.

Now UMaine is 0-4 in America East heading into its home opener against Drexel on Friday.

UMaine coach Janet Anderson said the skein was unexpected, but not surprising. In the Bears’ first four conference games, they were crippled by key injuries, devastated by death, and victims of their own inexperience as they repeatedly hit fly balls.

Now, as the Bears prepare for Friday’s doubleheader at Lengyel Field in Orono they are focusing on their inconsistent, lagging offense and trying to forget their poor start.

Although, there was no way to predict the events of the past two weeks.

In that time, the grandparents of three players died, senior co-captain Jen Burton was called home to visit with her sick grandmother, and the disabled list grew.

Catcher Sara Jewett, who is fourth on the team in batting with a .378 average, had her finger sliced open when Towson’s shortstop stepped on it going for an out at second base, forcing Jewett to miss the two Delaware games.

Then Katie McKay (.305) went to the hospital with a twisted ankle in the first game against Delaware.

But the Bears have Jewett and McKay back and Anderson said they have never been so glad to be home.

“We’re looking forward to playing here. The kids have missed the other kids. It’s been a strange couple of weeks,” Anderson said. “It’s OK to feel anxiety. I feel anxiety. But it’s how we deal with it.”

Anderson said UMaine’s offense struggled against the toughest pitching it has seen so far, then the Bears fell into a rut hitting with too much upswing that led to too many fly balls and too many easy outs.

UMaine leads America East in hitting with a .311 team average, but couldn’t produce runs against Towson and Delaware.

Now the Bears have to face the Dragons, who boast the league’s lowest ERA at 1.15 with three shutout wins last week and the league’s best pitcher in Candace Clark (.70 ERA).

Then there is a doubleheader Sunday at home against Hofstra, which is off to a 4-0 start in the league.

On Wednesday, in the Bears’ first practice since their breakdown, Anderson and assistant coach Deb Smith had the Bears getting their bats on top of the ball producing grounders and line drives.

“We’re seeing success with ground balls. We’re saying, `That’s all we want,” Anderson said. “We’ve got to get the fly ball out of the sky and on the ground. That was our concern today, to get them rethinking.”

Maine takes a break from league foes when it plays Colby April 21.